by Max Barry

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5

Armed Forces of Rivierenland

Armed Forces of Rivierenland
Rivierenlandse Krijgsmacht (Dutch)
Rivierenlander Streitkräfte (German)
Forces Armées de Rivierenland (French)

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Founded

1697. 323 years ago

Service branches

-Royal Rivierenlander Army
-Royal Rivierenlander Navy
-Royal Rivierenlander Air Force
-Royal Rivierenlander Marechaussee



Commander-in-Chief

Queen Margaret II[/size]

Minister of Defence

Luka Baresič

Chief of Defence

Jeremy Hargreaves



Military age

21

Available for military service

Approx. 61 Million

Fit for military service

Approx. 58 Million

Active personnel

451.892

Reserve personnel

52.134

Deployed personnel

0



Budget

ƒ 6,7528 trillion

Percent of the GDP

1,72%

The Armed forces of Rivierenland consist of the Army, Navy, and Air Force.

The service branches consist of:

Koninklijke Landmacht (KL), Royal Rivierenlander Army.
Koninklijke Marine (KM), Royal Rivierenlander Navy and Korps Mariniers, Marine Corps.
Koninklijke Luchtmacht (KLu), Royal Rivierenlander Air Force.
Koninklijke Marechaussee (KMar), Royal Military Constabulary.

The military ranks of the Rivierenlander armed forces have similarities with English and U.S. military ranks. The highest-ranking officer in the Rivierenlander military is the Chief of Defence (Rivierenlander), who is a four-star officer. The Rivierenlander armed forces have the biggest budget in the world.

Table of Contents

1. History
2. Army
3. Navy
4. Air Force
5. Marechaussee

History



The armed forces of Rivierenland were founded right before the nation's independence. When Rivierenland wasn't independent yet, the armed forces were merely a rebellion group. They were fighting the Dutch army, which was still in bad shape from many previous and ongoing wars it was fighting and thanks to that the Rivierenlander militias were able to ensure the independence of Rivierenland. After the independence they were reclassified by King Henry I to armed forces and the rebellion groups that fought the Dutch were now proper soldiers. While foreign powers tried their pick at the newly-established kingdom, they didn't make any progress as the Rivierenlander armed forces were surprisingly stronger than them. Besides, they got to buildup quickly since they only had to confiscate the Dutch equipment and they were ready for war.

As years passed, the armed forces were the most important section of internal affairs that the Rivierenlander government was focusing on. A big portion of the GDP was headed towards defense and for a long time the Monarch was serving as the biggest figure in the army. Whilst under that system, the Rivierenlander armed forces conquered a bunch of land along the Rhine as well as some colonies (dominions) in Brazil and Western Africa. For a long time, the army was well respected by citizens and people would happily enlist which meant two things: Conscription wasn't necessary and the armed forces were always strong and battle-ready. This caused Rivierenland to win many small wars as well as continue for a long time on their conquest down south. Although the armed forces did suffer a few defeats back then, like a failed invasion down under.

In the 19th century, the parliament voted for a bill to pass which stated that there would be a minister of defense to make sure that the monarch didn't have too much on their hands. The first Minister of Defense (Dirk Schneider) continued with the conquest south as he ordered generals and soldiers to do so. At this time the public interest for the armed forces started to diminish. As parliament feared that they would then have an empty army, they voted on a motion that stated that all men between 21 and 55 would be enlisted as standby at the army and that they should've at least served one month of compulsory military service. The people didn't like that and went on strike. The government first wanted to retaliate, but after three years of legal hassle the conscription bill was repealed.

Rivierenlander war flag
(in use since 1912)

Some relevant strides were made in the armed forces in the beginning of the 20th century as the army tried to modernize it's image to keep up with the rest. Some of the strides that were made were seen as very progressive at the time, like allowing women into the armed forces and raising the national standby age to 65. Another major development was the addition of a third section to the armed forces: the air force was a new asset as Rivierenland tried to experiment with putting guns and grenades on planes. A war flag was also introduced for Rivierenland to use during war times and for the armed forces to use as their official flag. The flag is the Gadsden flag but with changes in colours. The Gadsden flag was chosen as the army was in place so other countries wouldn't tread on Rivierenlanders' freedoms.

The army faced a lot of activity in the first half of the 20th century and starting with WWI, the armed forces of Rivierenland faced a significant challenge from the Austro-Hungarians and Germans. Along with help from the French, Russians, British and later Americans, Rivierenland could survive but costly. Rivierenland's territory was defended to the last inch (even though the Central Powers' armies only reached as far as Freiburg) and the armed forces fanatically fought the Germans and Austro-Hungarians. The armed forces lost a bunch of soldiers in that war and the armed forces would need a lot of time to recover.

Rivierenlander resistance movement flag
(in use during WWII)

During the interbellum period, the Rivierenlander armed forces gained a fourth division: the marechaussee (constabulary) was formed. During that same time period a multitude of soldiers were recruited after word reached Utrecht about the rising influence of fascism in neighbouring countries and how they were getting more aggressive. The Rivierenlander forces prepared for war and they had the manpower and equipment for it. They were ready for whatever was to come their way, or so at least they thought.

When WWII and the Axis powers invaded Rivierenland, the Rivierenlander armed forces actually seemed to squash the Axis powers before they could do anything else. Britain and France even sent reinforcements to aid the Rivierenlander forces and they almost even pushed the Axis back to their capitals, until Britain started to face uprisings in Scotland that it had to deal with and France's resources were depleted on keeping Italy out. Alone against Austro-Bavaria and Germany, the Rivierenlanders still bravely fought on and managed too keep the Axis limited to some borderlands, but then the armed forces started to deplete in resources and morale and soon when the Rivierenlander armed forces were pushed to the Rhine, the monarch and government fled to London and Rivierenland capitulated.

Troops enlisted in the Rivierenlander army were forced to join Axis forces, but most escaped the country. Others who didn't tried to stay as low-key as possible and started to build up resistance movements. The resistance movements of Rivierenland were on par with the Yugoslav Partisans. The KRVB would regularly commit assassinations on Axis soldiers, police officers and on collaborators who worked together with the Axis. The KRVB declared themselves as a part of the Rivierenlander armed forces and would regularly receive messages from London sent by the Premier and the queen. The KRVB was found out in 1941, but they weren't yet caught. They managed to stay away from Axis hands and only a handful resistance members were arrested by the enemies. When the war ended, some KRVB members joined the armed forces while others didn't (this was the subsequent end of KRVB).

A Rivierenlander ICBM

During the Cold War, the armed forces were regularly sent to the many proxy wars that took place during the Cold conflict. The first Rivierenlander engagement in war after WWII was in the Korean War, when they were part of a UN peacekeeping force sent to defeat the communists. While in Korea, a few corrupt-minded generals decided to stop reporting progress of the war back to Utrecht and decided to fight war in their ruthless ways. During the Korean War, the Rivierenlander generals ordered the troops to commit several cases of war crimes and when the Rivierenlander troops came back home, nothing was said about the crimes against humanity.

This happened a few times during the Cold War and this also started to catch the attention of the USA who were worried by the Rivierenlander actions, but when the Rivierenlander generals said that it was only communists they were killing, the USA hesitantly looked away and let the generals do their things. Besides, those Rivierenlander generals were also containing the spread of communism in Central/Latin-America and the USA was fine with that. This ended up in several cover-ups and for a long time this wasn't put in to the spotlights of the international press.

During the Cold War, the Rivierenlander armed forces also received a new weapon they could use in case of war: ICBM's. The Rivierenlander public were freaked out by this new weapon as they thought that these ICBM's meant that Rivierenland basically put a massive target on itself. After a while, the unrest calmed down and people started to feel as if their nation was stronger than ever. After a while and a few treaties and resolutions, the capacity of ICBM's was significantly reduced (but Rivierenland still owns a thousand of them). The reasoning behind the development of Rivierenlander ICBM's was mostly because the parliament wanted that the world took Rivierenland more seriously.

When the Cold War ended, the Rivierenlander armed forces still went on some campaigns which mostly consisted of 'peacekeeping' missions. When Yugoslavia imploded in the 90's, some Rivierenlander troops were sent to safeguard some Muslim majority towns in Bosnia. They were successful at that, but when one town was still breached by Serbs, the Rivierenlander armed forces retaliated in a ruthless manner and as revenge for that lost town (Srbrenica) the Rivierenlander armed forces massacred 3 Serb held towns. The Rivierenlander wrath didn't stop in Bosnia, as during the Kosovo war the Rivierenlander troops also committed war crimes in Mitrovica as response to a Serbian attack on Pristhina a week earlier.

At the turn of the century, several (former) Rivierenlander generals were sentenced in The Hague for war crimes after someone leaked information about committed war crimes done by the Rivierenlander armed forces. This led to some changes. Firstly, the minister of defense got more power over the armed forces and deployed officials were forced to send a daily update back to Utrecht. In addition to that, the Rivierenlander government stated in 2003 that for a period of 20 years, no soldiers would be deployed and Rivierenland would remain neutral during that period.

Army



The army was the first piece of the armed forces of Rivierenland. The first ever army was the revolutionary army that helped Rivierenland to independence. The army is the biggest part of the army as they have been the leading force of the armed force over the years. They were the ones making most of the attacks on enemy strongholds and the army even gained a celebrity-like status after WWII (among Rivierenlander citizens). Although the army has done great things for Rivierenland, they also have done Rivierenland's war crimes. The Rivierenlander army has killed between 6.000 and 24.000 people by committing war crimes (most of the deaths were in Korea, Central America and Bosnia).

In the present, the army has a wide range of weapons and soldiers at their disposal and due to the 20-year neutrality (that ends in 2023), most army soldiers serve as border guards, police officers, security guards or fulfill other jobs. The army is known for their recruitment programs, as every month they hand out pamphlets to every eligible person in Rivierenland. Most of these get thrown away, but some are responded to and some join the military as a result. In the army, recruits go through a 30-day course where they get trained, get briefings and complete several activities as well as study necessary stuff. In the past, every 21-year old was expected to serve at least one month at the army but in the present it's not a requirement anymore and people may choose if they want to join the army or not.

The gear of a soldier in the Rivierenlander army consists of a handgun, a switchblade knife, pepper spray, 6 grenades, an Uzi and an AK-47. A soldier also wears dark green/brown camo suit with a camo helmet, camo boots and protective sunglasses. Alpina divisions wear white-coloured variations of the standard army gear. During combat, the army has several vehicles and artillery at their disposal as well. In fact, the army even has 1000 nuclear ICBM's to be used at a moment's notice.

Navy



The navy was the second department of the Rivierenlander armed forces to open. Thanks to the Dutch navy already existing, the Rivierenlanders could just confiscate whatever the navy had and build their own navy. The navy has played a very important (but more unsung) role for Rivierenlander domination, as the navy often ventured along with the army through the Rhine in the Rivierenlander conquest to the south. The navy also played a big part in Rivierenland being able to get their dominions and the navy almost even captured a part of Australia if it weren't for the armed forces to retreat after most of them fainted from the heat of the outback.

As per the present, the navy doesn't have too much people and most of the times the navy acts as the coast guard at several Rivierenlander beaches. Members of the navy are also regularly sent out to the North Sea to check up on Rivierenland's deep sea oil/gas supplies. The navy also acts as a kind of border guard for anyone entering from the sea. They also regularly patrol the rivers to prevent illegal activities to happen on the rivers.

Air Force



The air force is the third division added into the Rivierenlander armed forces. The air force was founded in 1914, as Rivierenlander airmen proposed the idea to the government and soon, the armed forces added the air force in and they started experimenting with guns and grenades on planes. During WWII and the Bosnian War the Rivierenlander air force played a vital role as they tried to defend the homeland/kill as many of the enemy as possible. Throughout most of history, the Rivierenlander air force got their planes from BAE and Fokker until they started buying American jet fighters (and for a while they even used Italian planes).

Currently, the air force are mostly present at air shows in Rivierenland and abroad and some even serve as freelance airline pilots or as ATC staff. Currently, the airmen (and airwomen) are the most respected members of the armed forces as they are more calmed out and focused than the others despite being in more dangerous conditions. Most of the fighters in the air force are Eurofighters and American-built fighters.

Marechaussee



This is the newest department of the Rivierenlander armed forces. The marechaussee (constabulary) mostly exists as to secure places of interest, like protect the residences of the monarch, prime minister and vice-premier and protect places like airports and harbours as well as sometimes act as a general police force in some small municipalities. The marechaussee are mostly known from acting as airport security. When the marechaussee was first introduced, it was kept a secret from the public and until the end of the Cold War it acted as a secret police force. During it's time as secret police force it was called 'Gendarmerie' rather than marechaussee.

Currently, as said previously the marechaussee protect places of interest and high risk as well as protect the figureheads of Rivierenland. The marechaussee also serve as the general police force in small municipalities. What almost no one knows about the Rivierenlander marechaussee is that they also serve as air marshals on planes and as conductors on trains. The marechaussee is everywhere in the country and some conspiracy theorists even believe that there are still some members of the marechaussee serving as secret police (which may or may not be true). The marechaussee also always carry a Glock with them just in case.

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